Cadbury Dairy Milk commits to Fairtrade

04 March 2009

Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO) is delighted to congratulate Cadbury and Fairtrade Foundation UK on their announcement made today that Cadbury Dairy Milk bar will carry the Fairtrade Certification Mark in the UK and Ireland by end of summer 2009. This groundbreaking move will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for existing certified farming groups and opening up new opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the Fairtrade system.

“It is through such partnerships that we aim to extend the benefits of Fairtrade to many more marginalized producers,” says Rob Cameron, Chief Executive Officer of FLO. “We applaud Cadbury’s for this outstanding commitment.”

Cadbury’s cocoa source will include Kuapa Kokoo, one of the first groups to be Fairtrade certified, with over 40,000 registered cocoa farmers across Ghana. Currently selling three percent of their cocoa on Fairtrade terms, they have been able to implement community projects like building primary school classrooms, constructing wells and investing in corn mills. Now Kuapa Kokoo will have the opportunity to sell more cocoa on Fairtrade terms, which will increase their Fairtrade premiums, and therefore the range of farmer support and community development programmes they can implement.

FLO has been working closely with its producer partners in Ghana in preparation for the announcement. Through its Producer Business Unit (PBU), FLO provides support services including training and capacity building which facilitate producer organizations’ compliance with the Fairtrade standards and ability to market their products.